Odysseus: The Hero In Homer's The Odyssey

In my eyes a hero is a person who shows courage, is humble, does not give up, and is someone everybody can relate to. The protagonist in “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because although he is emotional throughout the book and lets his emotions take over his actions, he displays immense courage and perseveres through his journey and hardships.

Odysseus makes some substantial mistakes, thus leading to the failure to his men. Odysseus shows extremely inadequate leadership qualities throughout the story. When Odysseus is on the journey to Ithaka, he neglects to let his crew know how long they will be staying on each island. He also neglects to let them know of the journey that lies ahead. This is very poor leadership in the eyes of his crew members. The crew relies on their leader to be honest with them when it comes to situations such as these. They expect Odysseus to make decisions for the well being of the crew. When Odysseus receives advice, even if it is helpful he tends to ignore it. He thinks he is the most intelligent human being, even more so than the gods. A prime example of this is when Odysseus receives advice from Kirke about Scylla. Kirke tells Odysseus not to fight Scylla, yet he chooses to anyway. Another example of Odysseus’s ignorance toward people is when Eurylochus tells him not to go onto Kirke’s island because he knows the crew would be turned into swine. Odysseus again chooses to ignore the intelligent advice given by the gods, and finds out that hard way that Eurylochus was correct. After all that Odysseus has done to the crew, it is true to

His bragging almost results in the death of his entire crew. Odysseus doesn't think highly of his men, and this is apparent throughout the entire story.

First, an example of his unfaithfulness to his wife is when on the island of Kirke he was told to sleep with the evil witch, and he automatically did it without even asking questions. He could have threatened to kill Kirke or reason with her, but no he took his favorite way out, sleeping with her. Another time Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife was while on the island of Kylpso he willingly slept with her countless times over his seven year captivity on the island. Penelope, Odysseus' faithful wife, never cheated on him once during his 20 year absence in Ithaka. A time he is unfaithful to the Gods is when he receives the ride home from the Phaeakians he did not pry or sacrifice anything to Poseidon before his trip if he would have done this he could have saved the lives of the Phaeakians sailors, who were killed by Poseidon. Finally, Odysseus was unfaithful to the Gods when he does not except Polyphemos sincere apology and says, “ Kyklops, if any mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son whose home’s on Ithaka!” (IX 548-552). Which shows disrespect to the Gods by not

Odysseus’s arrogance is shown throughout the poem, but it is clearly shown during his time with a cyclops named Polyphemus. When Odysseus and his men enter a dangerous cave because of their leader’s foolish curiosity and meets Polyphemus, Odysseus says “It was our luck to come here; here we stand,/ beholden for your help, or any gifts/ you give-as custom is to honor strangers,” (256-268). Here Odysseus is practically demanding that the cyclops treat him and his men with courtesy just because he is a guest. His arrogance and pride makes them stay with the dangerous cyclops even though they had a perfect chance for escaping from cyclops at the very beginning before the conversation even started. If only they quickly left with some cheese or nothing at all, Odysseus wouldn’t have lost so many men. Because of Odysseus’s arrogance, six of his men were eaten by the cyclops. Another example when Odysseus arrogance is shown was just

A major part of being a hero is trying to protect the ones you love from any harm, hurt, and danger. Odysseus, however, does not protect his family from harm because he leaves Ithaca for so long. In particular, Odysseus does not protect his wife from hurt when he cheats on her. Every minute of each day that Odysseus was gone, Penelope was mourning the absence of her husband, not knowing that he was deceiving her. Odysseus not only cheats on Penelope once, but twice. First, Odysseus is held sex captive by Calypso, a nymph goddess, on her island for many years. This means that at some point Odysseus had fallen for temptation. Odysseus then cheats on his wife yet again with another goddess named Circe. Although this affair does not last as long, Odysseus still sets

For generations, heroes have always fascinated people and people have strived to achieve certain qualities of their heroes. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is considered the hero of the story. While Odysseus does demonstrate some qualities that are not heroic, he is still defined as a hero because of his better, more heroic qualities in which he is far superior in than any other man. The qualities in which define Odysseus as a hero are courage, intelligence, and leadership.

Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus experiences many ups and downs throughout his journey home. He is throw into peril and there often seems to be no hope for his return home. While he remains victorious in the end, returning to his wife, son, and father, the poem itself is filled with many darker moments filled with doubt and sadness. Odysseus is the hero of the Odyssey, and in order to exist as a hero he must be relatable. His story cannot be one entirely of triumph, it must include a more human perspective. Triumph cannot come without strife, and heroism cannot come without tribulation. Athena and Odysseus’ experiences as divine and human, respectively, and define whether or not they are heroes. By comparing Odysseus to Athena, it is apparent that what makes Odysseus a hero before anything else is his humanity.

Odysseus is definitely a strong character. Not just physically strong, but mentally strong too. He is intelligent, arrogant, and godlike. Throughout the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus proves that he is able to take on any challenge that he runs into headfirst. In Ancient Greece, Greeks looked up to him and wanted to be him, Almost like how Christians want to live like how Jesus or Mary did. People thought of Odysseus as a perfect person. He was one of the greatest ancient Greece heroes. Looking back on him now, he doesn’t look as excelling as he did to the people in ancient Greece. Calling Odysseus a hero is still up to debate today, but one thing for sure is that he is definitely a strong person.

Also, Odysseus is a very traitorous husband and he is unfaithful to the Gods by cheating on his wife and ignoring the Gods. First, Odysseus uses every opportunity he could to cheat on his wife. For example, In book ten, while the Ithikan army was docked on the island of Kirke, Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife. He was told to sleep with Kirke and without a second thought he took the opportunity. Instead of forcing Kirke of reasoning with her he immediately slept with her. Another time he cheated on his wife was while on the island of Kylpso, he willingly slept with her many times over his seven-year stay on the island. Odysseus also goes about his journey not praying and committing many sins which earn him a bad name with many of the Gods. An example of this is, “ Kyklops, if any mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son whose home’s on Ithaka!” (IX 548-552), which shows contempt to the Gods because of his breaking of their commandment against Hubris. Again in Book XIII when he receives the ride home from the Phaeakians he did not pry or sacrifice anything to Poseidon before his trip if he would have done this he could have saved the lives of the Phaeakians sailors.

Firstly, Odysseus acts hypocritically, wanting to kill all the suitors for trying to marry his wife, but sleeping with every woman he meets. “Even as he spoke the sun set and the darkness swept the earth. And now, withdrawing into the cavern’s deep recesses, long in each other’s arms they lost themselves in love.” (page 159, lines 248-251). This shows that Odysseus is being unfaithful to his wife, Penelope, by sleeping with Calypso. Something he has done multiple times. “You dogs! You never imagined I’d return from Troy- so cocksure

He does things for his own self, without realizing, that his wife Penelope is still waiting for him.“ She swore the oath at once; and when she had sworn the oath full and fairly, I entered the bed of Circe. “ (128) Odysseus fell into the temptation and was not concerned about how Penelope might feel if she knew what he did. Odysseus is not being fair to his wife, and is being very selfish. His crew of men that he has traveled along with are seeing what he is doing, and he is not being a good example. Odysseus is not being a good leader by cheating on his wife, and is misleading his group of men. Odysseus is very intelligent, and a great war leader, but not a good role model. Therefore, Odysseus is a bad

After such a long voyage and finally being able to return to his own home, Odysseus endured more issues and problems with the wooers that had over taken his home to try and sway Penelope. Odysseus reacted the way any man would to protect his wife, son and his home. The revenge on the wooers and the unfaithful servants and maids was just. The servants and the maids were unfaithful to Penelope and slept with the wooers.

The king of Ithaca, son of the god Laertes and Anticleia, married to Penelope and father to Telemachus, was the hero Odysseus. Odysseus is known for his cunning and brilliant intelligence. During Odysseus’ lifetime, he went on many adventures including a few that involved a cyclops, the Land of the Dead, and the Suitors.

Firstly Odysseus is seen as arrogant when his men try to stop Odysseus from yelling at Polyphemus after escaping. He will not listen to them. Instead he “[lets] [his] anger flare and yell[s]… (283). This conflict shows a lot about Odysseus and how he is